


An Early Morning

by perrstein



Series: Intentions of the Well Meaning [1]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Cap Peggy and Winter Soldier Angie AU, F/F, Soulmate AU, partially deaf Angie au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-11 21:49:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7071820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perrstein/pseuds/perrstein
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A peaceful moment in time for Peggy and Angie in their chaotic lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Early Morning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [QuickYoke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuickYoke/gifts).



> I had written and posted this way back in December on tumblr for a holiday fic exchange, and I'm just getting around to posting it here. This takes place largely towards the end of this AU's plotline, because I've been writing it backwards like a dummy. In this Angie is Puerto Rican/Italian (which is why I refer to her as Angie Martinez), she was mildly hard of hearing since her and Peggy were kids, but it got progressively worse due to damage in the war and from her time as the Winter Soldier.

New York City was slow to wake in the snowy darkness of the early morning, the subdued energy of a December predawn enough to keep Angie’s quick movements through her apartment quiet. Despite waking up early, she had spent long enough fussing over how she looked that she was running a little behind. Angie was only just pulling on her gloves when she shut off her dimmed lights and stepped into the elevator.

“Good morning, Jarvis. I need to go to the ground floor.” She frowned slightly as her glove snagged on the metal of her left hand again, and lightly pulled at it so the glove material wasn’t pinched as the elevator started to move.

“Morning Miss Martinez, you look lovely today. It’s 30 degrees outside, and Miss Carter is waiting in the lobby for you.” JARVIS sounded the same as usual, but Angie would have swore that she was being teased. She groaned, and JARVIS replied. “There there, Miss, she only got there herself a few moments ago.“ The elevator doors slid open, and as she stepped out of the elevator JARVIS’ “Have an excellent day” sounded in that pleasant voice before going silent.

Angie exited the elevator and made her way to where Peggy stood nearby, and she couldn’t suppress a smile at how Peggy was trying to ignore the snow melting on her as she waited for her. “Mornin’, Peg!” She leaned up and kissed Peggy’s cheek, and Peggy flushed and held out one of the hot cups she was holding. Angie took it in her right hand while lacing their free hands together.

“Good morning, darling.” Peggy cleared her throat, and Angie loved her for how awkward she could be about affection while they were in public. “I have what we need for the day in the truck I’ve borrowed, but if we’re missing anything, then we can pick it up without fuss. And I ah, picked up the hot chocolate that I know you like. ” She ducked her head and brought the gloved hand she was holding high enough to press a kiss to the back of it, before lowering their hands and leading Angie through the lobby.

“You’re _still_ determined to wait until the last minute to tell me? I gotta say, I’m impressed at how stubborn you are about this, even though I shouldn’t be.” Peggy laughed softly at Angie’s huff. As they walked out of the Tower, they both grimaced at the cold. There wasn’t much distance between the doors and the truck that was parked in front, but it was still a relief as they parted to get into the truck. The snowfall had shifted, falling lightly and quick to melt, and Angie couldn’t help but think about the warmth of the west coast as she readjusted her white beanie to cover her hearing aids better.

She glanced over at Peggy, and knew that she could see what she had just been thinking of. Angie buckled herself before wrapping her hands around the cup and took a sip of her hot chocolate, closing her eyes and humming in approval at the delightfully heavy warmth of the drink. As she opened her eyes, she saw Peggy flush again as she put the truck in drive and shifted her focus to the road. There was a quietly pleased look on Peggy’s face, and she found it endearing that little things like getting her drink right made Peggy feel good.

A comfortable silence lingered in the cabin as Peggy drove, Angie spent the first half of the trip content to lean against the passenger window and watch the world around them wake to the gentle snowfall as the sun was slow to rise. Their finished drinks were forgotten in the truck’s cup holders, and the occasional swipe of the windshield wipers served as a reminder to Angie that this wasn’t another one of her particularly pleasant dreams. The city slowly gave way to a more natural scenery, and when they drove past the Hawthorne line, there was nothing but trees for her to see. Looking back over at Peggy, Angie could see the peaceful look on her face.

“I missed you this morning, English. I knew you weren’t going to be there when I woke up, but I still missed you.” Angie kept her tone light, and brushed her hand against the back of Peggy’s before turning the radio on and toying with it.

“I know darling, I had wanted to stay the night. But I had to get things from my apartment and meet Natasha there before I could pick you up.” She reached up and shook her mostly dry hair out and before moving to rest her hand on Angie’s thigh, lightly brushing her thumb across the words covered there. Peggy carefully glanced at her, gauging the situation, before asking, “Does your mark ever give you a twinge? I haven’t found someone to ask about that kind of thing.”

“Only every time I’m moved by a reminder of how much I love you, Peg, cheesy as that sounds.” Angie rested her hand on top of Peggy’s, and her lopsided smile was so bright that it made Peggy feel warm. “What about yours? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but it seems like you want to talk about it.”

Peggy lifted her hand off of Angie’s leg and slid it under her jacket to rub at the words on her collar. “I was curious because I could feel that burn echo every time I’ve looked over at you during this ride.” Angie could feel  _her_ cheeks flush, and she leaned over press a quick kiss to Peggy’s cheek.

“Wow, I can’t believe I thought what I said was too much.” She settled back into her seat, and was more than content to hold her girlfriend’s hand as the brief glances of towns and trees rolled by, and only fiddled with the radio a few more times until a station playing carols came in clearly. She dramatically sang along to a couple of them, more than willing to not spoil her surprise, and even managed to get Peggy to join in on some of the tamer songs.

As they turned left onto the NY-199 W, Angie wondered how long Peggy was going to hold on to the “secret” part of her surprise. It had already been an hour and a half, and while she can and has followed Peggy around the world, it was always a nice feeling to know where they were heading. When Peggy looked over at her again, her frustration must have been starting to show on her face, because she pulled her hand free to rub at her face before sheepishly admitting the truth.

“You had mentioned a couple weeks ago that you still liked general holiday decorations and exchanging gifts with friends, and later on you mentioned that you found out that your family had started going to Battenfeld farm every year since the late fifties for their tree before they left the States. I had ah, thought that you might want to make it a tradition again?” Peggy pressed her fingers to where her soul mark was, and kept nervously glancing over at Angie.

Angie sat there, stunned and speechless as her marks burned. It took her almost a minute to come up with a response and Peggy tried to pay attention to both her and the road. Finally, Angie found her voice, and was almost surprised by how steady she sounded as she blinked away tears. “I love you, Peggy Carter.” Peggy quickly pulled the truck to the side of the road and put it in park as Angie unbuckled herself and shifted so she was halfway to being in Peggy’s lap before the truck was still.

She slowed down and moved deliberately, tilting her head as she kissed Peggy. For a moment, it felt like the world narrowed down to just the two of them in the cab of that truck; the sensation of Peggy’s barely chapped lips moving against her own and their noses brushing as they moved together was everything as she straddled her lap. Peggy’s hands moved to Angie’s back and the side of her face, and she felt like she was going to melt as she tried to lean more into those hands. As the kiss deepened, and as Angie wound her hands into Peggy’s hair, she could pick up on the hints of the tea Peggy was drinking earlier. That moment felt blissful and like it was entirely _theirs_ , and they might have stayed there for an hour if Peggy’s phone hadn’t started loudly ringing and jolted Angie out of her lap.

Peggy smiled apologetically, and took a deep breath before pulling her phone out of her pocket.  Glancing at the screen, she pressed her eyes closed before swiping to accept the call. “Good morning, Fred. Yes, I’m quite aware that we’re running late. We’re just a few minutes up the road from you, and we’ll be there shortly. Of course, see you then.” She pinched the bridge of her nose before sliding her phone back in her pocket, and checked her reflection in the rear view mirror. “I swear, Angie, you always do a number on my hair.” Her voice was laden with fond exasperation as she reached across the cab. Opening the glove box, she pulled a new hair tie out of there, before snapping it shut and efficiently tying her hair back.

As tempting as it was to make a smart comment back, Angie just kissed her cheek again before sitting back in her seat and smiling. She watched, and when Peggy looked over at her before putting the truck back in drive, she placed her hand back on hers and said “Thank you Peggy, really.”

Peggy couldn’t help her look of pride and satisfaction. “You can thank me after I finish hauling whatever monstrosity of a tree you that you decide on around.” She pulled away from the side of the road and guided them the last mile or so down before pulling into the farm. She waved to the lone man at the pay station, and took the second right on the farm road before taking another right into that empty parking lot.

Angie excitedly got out of the truck and looked around thoughtfully, trying to decide which section they should go to first. Peggy smiled indulgently as she grabbed the saw out of the truck bed, and when Angie came around the truck and grabbed her hand, she let herself be dragged into a section of Douglas firs. They wandered around the tree lot for a few minutes in the barely noticeable snowfall, and when they reached the back of the section, Angie stopped in front of a tree and looked up at it.

“This is the one, Peggy. This is the tree we need to get.” Angie looked entirely serious as she said that, and Peggy let go of Angie’s hand to press her hand to her face. The beast of a tree easily cleared nine feet tall, and she wasn’t even surprised that this is what Angie picked. She supposed it was a trade off for only taking ten minutes to actually _find_ the bloody thing. Angie circled the tree twice before coming back to her side bouncing enthusiastically, and was smiling that smile of hers that made something in Peggy’s heart give a pleasant lurch. “This is definitely it!”

Peggy nodded and slipped into what others had fondly dubbed her game face, and approached the tree. She started sawing, careful to try and keep the cut even as Angie held it still, and leaned it against her body without issue as she finished sawing through the trunk. She held on to the tree with one hand as she reached back and handed the saw off to Angie, and then hoisted it as they headed back to the truck with minimal grumbling that Angie pretended was too muffled for her to hear.

As they reached the truck, Peggy rested the tree against its side before opening the truck bed door and grabbing the large coil of rope in the back. It took some maneuvering while Angie was trying to call out advice the entire time, but Peggy managed to gently lower it on to the truck bed and secure it without crushing all of the branches. Another few minutes was taken with the saw to even the bottom of the completely as Angie watched her. She took a moment to try and dust the snow and needles  off of her, and Angie came up to her and kissed her before pulling a pine needle out of her hair. Peggy huffed as she realized how many of those weren’t coming out of her hair, and sighed before unlocking the cab and sliding into the driver’s seat.

Angie beamed with excitement as Peggy pulled the truck up to the pay station, and the man in the booth waved them through. She waved back, and Angie spoke up. “Don’t we have to pay him for the tree?”

Peggy shook her head, and said “Oh, I’ve already paid him. I came up here last week to ask him to open early. He was here as a formality, really.”

“He probably jumped at the chance to help Captain America out, huh?” Angie nodded to herself, satisfied with knowing that she didn’t just help steal a tree.

“Something like that, I’m sure.” Peggy snorted, and Angie was reminded again of the graceless Peggy she grew up with.

Time passed in almost a blur, filled with relaxed chatting and bouts of Angie bursting into song along with the radio. It definitely felt like it ended too soon when they pulled up to the Avengers tower, even though traffic was already starting to come alive  as they came back into the city. As they pulled up, Peggy could spot Maria waiting on the sidewalk drinking what was probably her third coffee of the morning. It was barely half past six. Turning the truck off once it was in park, they both got out of the car and Angie moved to the sidewalk as Peggy untied the tree and lifted it a little awkwardly, loudly closing the half door on the truck bed.

“Morning you two, Natasha left the tree bases by the elevator.” Maria nodded to them, only to have Angie pull her into a side hug. She returned it, even giving Angie a bit of a squeeze before taking a long drink from her coffee when they parted. “I’ll see the both of you again tonight for dinner, barring one of the usual emergencies.” She got into the truck and pulled away from the curb, and Angie waved goodbye as Peggy waited by the door.

She rushed over and held it open, and thankfully the lobby was still largely empty. Angie could spot the large box filled with different tree bases, and picked it up as the elevator doors opened for them. It was an awkward fit that didn’t allow for either of them to put what they were carrying down, but Angie was still thrilled that they didn’t have to go up separately.

“Miss Martinez, Miss Carter, I see you’ve both returned to the Tower this morning. Shall I assume that you’re heading up to Miss Angie’s floor?” Once again, Angie would have sworn that JARVIS was teasing the both of them as the elevator started moving.

“You would be correct, JARVIS. And if you could not inform Mr. Stark when he specifically asks where I’ve been, that would be lovely. He’s gotten it in his head again that trying to tease me is a good idea.” Peggy’s voice was crisp, and her accent a hint more prominent than usual.

“Will do, Miss Carter. It’s rather unfortunate that Sir has fallen into that habit again, but I’m sure he’ll be encouraged by you and others to stop.” Angie  wondered if an AI could feel exasperation towards its creator. Before she could give it much thought, the doors slid open at her floor.

She lead the way into her space, and picked the corner of her living room that was closest to her bedroom. She glanced at the trunk of the tree, judging about how wide it was, before reaching into the box and pulling out a wide, metal tree base that looked to be the right size. She placed it on the ground and helped Peggy guide the tree into it, and then dropped down to screw the tree into position once the trunk was pressed flat to its bottom. They worked in silence this whole time, really only making the occasional sound of frustration.

Once the tree was screwed in, Angie held it as Peggy went to her kitchen and came back out a few minutes later with a bucket of water. She crouched down and slowly filled the tree base with water, and stopped when it looked like it was filled enough of the way. Standing back up, Peggy nudged the bucket back as Angie let go of the tree and wrapped her arms around Peggy in a tight hug.

“This means the whole world to me.” Angie’s voice sounded a little muffled, but Peggy’s hearing was sharp enough to let her understand it.

“It’s my pleasure, darling. I’m just glad that you enjoyed this. I was quite worried that you’d be put off by my offer when you realized where we were heading.” Peggy squeezed Angie back just as tight, and then pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

Angie pulled back from Peggy, and started carefully tugging off her gloves and took off her hat, tossing them onto her empty desk in her room.. “I was touched Peg, really. It still hurts sometimes, knowing that I missed out on my family and traditions they picked up after I was gone, and it’s nice to be able to respect theirs while making my own.” She stopped unzipping her jacket mid motion, and a mischievous grin bloomed across her face. “Do you wanna curl up on the couch in pajamas while we pretend to watch an old Christmas movie until we have to get up to make dinner?”

Peggy leaned down and kissed Angie sweetly, and she could feel a smile of her own spreading. “I think that sounds like a fine way to spend a day off.”

 

 

Angie was never so thankful to get a text from Natasha that was a dinner cancellation.

**Author's Note:**

> They're really cute and in love and I'm really looking forward to writing how they got here and where they go from here, honestly. This fic itself is a one shot of feel good fluff, which is my favorite thing to deliver to the world.
> 
> Also Natasha and Maria totally bailed to bone all night.


End file.
